


Stronger Together

by melagan



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-14
Updated: 2013-12-14
Packaged: 2018-01-04 15:03:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1082434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melagan/pseuds/melagan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lorne tries to figure out what he's supposed to do about Dr. Parrish.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stronger Together

**Author's Note:**

> Beta by the lovely Mischief. Mistakes=mine

Lorne's eyebrows climbed up a little farther on his forehead as he stared at the report in his hand and wondered how he'd missed something so key. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, and with a sigh, reached for the next file. He still had three months of reports to sift through, per Colonel Sheppard's orders.

Somewhere within each one, he'd find the same connection staring at him in black and white. How the fuck had Sheppard seen this when it was Lorne's team on the ground and he'd completely missed it himself? This knack of his CO's to find common leads in trivial information boarded on the uncanny.

He slapped the file down on his desk and buried his head in his hands. Oh god. Lorne flashed on the twinkle in Sheppard's eye when he told Lorne to 'do something about it' then report back. Bastard. Any fool marine who mistook the Colonel for some flyboy wuss had obviously never experienced his evil side. Lorne flipped another report from the pile and spread it open, determined to be thorough if it killed him.

Staring into his empty coffee cup didn't give him any answers. Lorne glanced at the clock. He'd finished over an hour ago, somewhere near 02:30. The mess might not be open at this hour but the lab rats always had coffee brewing. Maybe Dr. McKay could give him some advice. Shaking his head, he realized how desperate he'd become if he was thinking of asking McKay for help.

Lorne stood, smoothed out his shirt and hoped he didn't look as pale as he felt. He clutched his coffee cup to his chest like a talisman. Time to buck up. Dr. McKay knew Katie Brown, and Katie knew Dr. Parrish. Maybe he could find out what Parrish knew about these missions without actually talking to him.

He didn't find Dr. McKay in the labs or in his quarters but he did have fresh coffee stains on his shirt. Wired on nerves and caffeine, Lorne paced the deserted hallway. "I'm not hunting you down, Doc," he mumbled under his breath. "I just might find you in the last place I want to look."

He'd start fresh in the morn…. Yawning he stared bleary eyed at the swimming numbers on his watch. Right — it was morning. He could pin McKay down fresh after lunch.

~*~

Showered, rested, more or less – seriously, what did the science team _do_ to their coffee; his hands were still shaking – Lorne found McKay in the mess. For all the good it did.

Dr. McKay scowled at him, balanced his full tray, and kept one hand hovered protectively over his brownie. "I don't know why you're asking me about Dr. Parrish. He's your team member – you talk to him. Although I don't know what you have to complain about. As I understand it, your off-world success rate has doubled since he joined your team."

"That's the issue Dr. McKay," Lorne said, trying not to sound desperate. "I need to find out why we're so, ah, so good together."

Rodney heaved a long-suffering sigh. "Every goon has his geek, Major. When the right one comes along — well, far be it for me to say what you should do about it. Oh, there's Colonel Sheppard! Excuse me, Major, I need to go taunt him with my brownie."

"Yeah, Doc," Lorne said to McKay's retreating backside, "you do that."

~*~

Lorne left the armory with a tinge of guilt. He'd known Dr. Parrish wouldn't be there. Just like he wasn't in the gym, at the shooting range, or down by the desalination tanks. That one had been close because Parrish might have actually been there given his interest in irrigation.

"Major Lorne!"

"Colonel Sheppard, sir!"

"Anything to report, Major?"

Lorne watched Sheppard's cool smile with a sinking heart. "Not yet, sir."

"Well, I'm sure you're taking care of things with your usual efficiency, Major."

"Yes, sir."

"Good." Sheppard glanced at his watch. "Whoops. Don't want to be late for my game with McKay. I can't wait to see his face when he sees the crates of oranges my guy is sending to his — ah, never mind. But trust me, he's going to love it." With a vague hand wave and a bounce in his step, he left Lorne standing alone in the hall.

Lorne snapped his mouth shut. Not that he didn't want to see his CO happy but — oranges? In any event, with his CO's crack about efficiency still echoing in his ears, Lorne knew he couldn't put off talking to Dr. Parrish any longer. Time to find his teammate, his scientist, his partner in crime? Yeah that last one sounded cool but incomplete.

Uneasily, he realized there were only two places to look. Parrish could be in his quarters or at the greenhouse. Lorne fervently hoped Dr. Parrish was in the greenhouse because he truly did not want to have this conversation in any room that had a bed in it.

~*~

"Dr. Parrish!" Lorne tried on a smile. "We should talk." The humid warmth of the greenhouse made his shirt stick to his skin but the air smelled green and fresh.

"Major! I'm surprised to see you here. Is this about the plants we left on MJ7- 846 because I did the soil analysis and I think the Rintarni are going to be quite surprised at the crop increase of the _Solanum lycopersicum._ "

"As long as it's not going to turn into killer tomatoes, Doc, I think we'll be fine."

Parrish looked adorably baffled.

"It's not about our last mission," Lorne said. "Or I should say, it's about all of our missions." He cleared his throat. "Our missions together.

"I'm sorry, Major Lorne, I don't understand."

Katie walked up, interrupting the conversation. She lifted a tray of seedlings from Parrish's hands. "I'll just take these to the other greenhouse and leave you gentleman alone."

Lorne could have sworn she winked.

Watching her leave, Parrish turned to Lorne and said, "I have no idea why she thought we should to be alone."

"We can talk about that later. Right now, I'd like to — I've been looking over — my CO pointed out….You know, somehow I thought this would be easier." Lorne took a deep breath and tried again.

"I've been looking over the mission reports since you joined my team. Remember PR3-189? No one expected it with their history of aggression but our meeting with the natives of turned into a nice, quiet, peaceful exchange of goods. "

"I remember. They had a rather troublesome parasite they couldn't get rid of."

"That's right. But you, Dr. Parrish, recognized a native plant that provided a natural repellent. And you showed them how to harvest the oil."

"I couldn't have done it without your support, Major. You let me bring the necessary supplies through the gate and helped harvest some of those plants yourself."

Stepping closer, Lorne continued. "On M53-274, you showed the Na'tan's how to produce more of the T'delp extract. In return, they gave us enough coffee beans to carry us through until the next harvest.

"You make things better everywhere we go. You helped cure a fungal disease affecting a vital root crop. Now we have tormack coming out our ears. You showed the natives on M93-778 how to manage their soil and restore their grain harvest. Sure, it took time but if those brownies in the mess yesterday were anything to go by, it was worth it." Lorne was close enough now to almost taste the salt on Parrish's skin. "You know what I think my favorite is, Doc? When you cross-pollenated the grapes on Pangea to produce a sweeter wine."

Parrish flashed a huge lopsided grin at Lorne. "They gave us barrels of the stuff. I think Dr. Zelenka is still making up songs about it."

"The list goes on and on. In almost every instance, we've made better progress than anyone expected."

"Major, while all this is true, I can hardly take the credit. None of that would have happened without your support."

Lorne laid a hand on Parrish's shoulder. "May I call you David, Doc?

David nodded, the tips of his ears turning pink.

"It's been pointed out to me that I've been missing the obvious and it looks like you have too."

"The obvious?" David asked.

He stared at Lorne, wide-eyed, hair mussed, and a streak of dirt across one cheek. Lorne bit his lip. David looked adorable and Lorne knew he was doomed. "Our missions — we're good together. Really good. We make a hell of a team because you make me better at my job because…" Lorne ran out of words.

"Because we fit together?" David asked.

"Yeah, that'd be it."

"And maybe we might fit together well in other ways?"

Lorne nodded, mouth too dry to speak.

"And if I were to guess what you would say next, Major—"

"Evan. Call me Evan."

"Evan. If I were to guess, I think you might say that we don’t have to rush." David's eyes were twinkling. "But, just for the sake of curiosity's sake, a hypothesis if you will, maybe we should try out that fit?"

"I can do that." Evan said. He pulled David toward him for a sweet, tentative first kiss. Unexpectedly, he found himself gripping the front of David's shirt, his knuckles curled tight in the fabric. He couldn't let go if his life depended on it.

Parrish's mouth moved warmly under his and Lorne groaned when he finally had to pull away for air. "I think I might owe Colonel Sheppard a thank you."

Parrish's eyes sparkled and his mouth, lips still rosy and wet, made Evan want to kiss him all over again. Heart thumping in his chest, he asked. "David Parrish, would you consider being my geek and only mine?"

"Evan Lorne," Parrish grinned back, "I thought you'd never ask."

~*~


End file.
